1970s

Review: RAISED ON ROCK CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 19 when I wrote this review back in 1994 for The Elvis Beat #8, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Raised On Rock (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis and Elvis Presley. Recorded July 21-23, 1973, Stax Studios (Memphis) and September 22-24, 1973, Elvis’ home (Palm Springs). Released: November 1973. Re-released: 1994 (CD).

This re-issue of Raised On Rock, which interestingly drops the original “For Ol’ Times Sake” subtitle, contains a page of poorly written liner notes, as do the other three albums reviewed in this issue, of which this is the last paragraph:

This album was recorded at a very difficult time during Elvis’ life. It could never be considered a classic. In October, his petition for divorce from Priscilla would be finalized and it must have weighed heavily on his mind. The poignancy of “For Ol’ Time Sake” [sic] puts this into perspective and makes this re-issue still a must for any real Elvis fan.

I had never heard the Raised On Rock album before, and I read the liner notes before playing it. I fully expected to be disappointed by this album since even Elvis’ own record company seems to feel that Raised On Rock was generally a worthless album with only one good song.

After listening to the album, I found that I totally disagreed with the liner notes and, in retrospect, found them insulting both to Elvis and his fans.

Does an album have to hit number one to be a “classic”? What is a classic anyway? Why is it assumed that Elvis’ personal life would have a negative impact on his music? Can’t Elvis’ own record company get the title of his song right? What is a “real Elvis fan,” anyway?

The liner notes suggest that only obsessed fans would even consider buying Raised On Rock, and, even then, they would probably only play it once.

Despite the liner notes, Raised On Rock is an excellent album that contains a wide variety of musical styles. All ten of the songs are strong and prove Elvis’ voice to be in good form. It makes one wonder if the unidentified author of the liner notes even bothered to listen to the album.

Songs:

  1. Raised On Rock
  2. Are You Sincere
  3. Find Out What’s Happening
  4. I Miss You
  5. Girl Of Mine
  6. For Ol’ Times Sake
  7. If You Don’t Come Back
  8. Just A Little Bit
  9. Sweet Angeline
  10. Three Corn Patches

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review: ELVIS (1973) CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 19 when I wrote this review back in 1994 for The Elvis Beat #8, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Elvis (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded 1971 & 1972, Nashville, Las Vegas, and Hollywood. Released: July 1973. Re-released: 1994 (CD).

Elvis is the first of four albums reviewed in this issue that were finally re-released by RCA as CDs after being unavailable for years. Until the “Elvis In The 90s” series, many of Elvis’ 1970s albums had been deleted from RCA’s catalog, depriving younger fans of the opportunity to hear some of his best work.

Elvis contains many excellent songs: “Fool,” “Where Do I Go From Here,” “Love Me, Love The Life I Lead,” “It’s Impossible,” “It’s Still Here,” “For Lovin’ Me,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

The album also contains three weaker songs: “Padre,” “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” and “I Will Be True.”

Unless you are patient enough to wait around for The 70s Masters boxed set, which I wasn’t, this album is a must for any fan’s collection.

Songs:

  1. Fool
  2. Where Do I Go From Here
  3. Love Me, Love The Life I Lead
  4. It’s Still Here
  5. It’s Impossible
  6. For Lovin’ Me
  7. Padre
  8. I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
  9. I Will Be True
  10. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Rating: 8 out of 10

Is the 70s stamp coming soon? [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 19 when I wrote this article back in 1994 for The Elvis Beat #8, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The 70s Elvis stamp may be released as soon as 1995 if a growing number of fans have their way with the US Postal Service. In April 1992, the stamp was defeated by a 3-to-1 margin in favor of the 50s Elvis stamp that was released in January 1993. The 70s stamp, also known as “Stamp B,” was painted by artist John Berkey and depicts Elvis as he appeared in 1973’s televised concert Aloha From Hawaii.

The stamp was severely criticized by the news media and others who unfairly called it the “Old, fat Elvis.” Berkey defended his stamp by stating, “I understand what happened, the negative feelings. But I painted the King. That other guy is the prince. The fanatical fans like the 70s one. And as a matter of fact he weighed 160 pounds and he was 38 years old (at the time of Aloha From Hawaii). That’s not fat, and that’s not old.” [. . . .]

A record 500,000 of the 50s Elvis stamps were printed and all were sold out in days, making them the most successful stamps in history. Since most of the stamps will be kept by fans or collectors and will never actually be used in the mail, the Postal Service has made an incredible profit from them.

Additionally, the Postal Service has profited from the marketing of the stamp image, which has appeared everywhere on hundreds of items for sale. Economically, the Postal Service could make millions more if another stamp were released so there probably is a fair chance it will happen as long as fans show support.

Over a quarter of a million people voted in favor of the 70s stamp, which artistically was a better representation of Elvis anyway. [. . . .]

Review: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #5, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

That’s The Way It Is (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded June 1970, RCA Studios (Nashville) and August 1970, International Hotel (Las Vegas). Released: December 1970. Re-released: 1993 (CD).

That’s The Way It Is continued Elvis’ string of awesome studio work which had started at the Memphis sessions in January 1969. It is definitely one of the most outstanding albums of his career.

Over half of the twelve songs on the album were recorded in June 1970 at RCA’s Nashville studios, a recording session which eventually yielded the bulk of the songs on three albums.

The rest of the songs were taken from his Summer 1970 Las Vegas engagement, which was filmed for the documentary Elvis: That’s The Way It Is.

All twelve songs on the album are so great that favorites cannot even be chosen. Elvis does his own distinct versions of several previously recorded songs of other artists which far exceed the originals – “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” for example.

Fans of this album should also obtain the videos Elvis: That’s The Way It Is, which contains all of the songs in one form or another, and Elvis: The Lost Performances, which features excellent live versions of “Twenty Days And Twenty Nights” and “Just Pretend.”

Songs:

  1. “I Just Can’t Help Believin'”
  2. “Twenty Days And Twenty Nights”
  3. “How The Web Was Woven”
  4. “Patch It Up”
  5. “Mary In The Morning”
  6. “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”
  7. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
  8. “I’ve Lost You”
  9. “Just Pretend”
  10. “Stranger In The Crowd”
  11. “The Next Step Is Love”
  12. “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

Rating: 10 out of 10

New 70s Elvis CDs released [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this piece back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #5, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The latest additions to RCA’s “Elvis In The 90s” series have arrived at record stores. The new trio, available separately, consists of:

  • That’s The Way It Is
  • Elvis Country
  • Elvis Now

All three of the albums were originally released in the 1970s, but they have been digitally remastered and released on CD for the first time.

Only days away is the year’s biggest Elvis release, ELVIS: From Nashville To Memphis – The Essential 60s Masters I. Reviews of the three new 1970s CDs appear elsewhere in this newsletter.

Review – ELVIS AND THE COLONEL: THE UNTOLD STORY (1993) [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Elvis And The Colonel: The Untold Story (NBC), starring Beau Bridges, directed by William A. Graham, aired January 10, 1993.

Elvis And The Colonel: The Untold Story is a story that should have remained untold. Not only is this the worst movie ever made about Elvis, but this is also probably the worst movie ever.

The initial concept behind this television movie was actually a good idea – an examination of the well-documented mismanagement of Elvis’ career by Colonel Tom Parker. But the end result is an absolute failure.

Elvis And The Colonel is one big mistake after another. A listing of some of the many factual errors contained in this movie appears on page 5 of this newsletter.

The biggest mistake of all occurred in the casting department when Robb Youngblood was chosen to play “Elvis.” Youngblood does not bear the slightest resemblance to Elvis, so one can only assume that he was selected for his acting ability. The problem with that theory is that [. . .] at no time during the entire two-hour movie is he convincing as “Elvis.” [. . . .]

It is also obvious that no effort was made to make Youngblood look like Elvis. Throughout the 22 years of “Elvis”‘ life that this movie portrays, Youngblood wears basically the same hairstyle–even while in the Army. It looks awful and resembles none of the many different styles Elvis wore his hair in over the years.

Youngblood’s clothes in the movie look so cheap that even the local [discount store] would be embarrassed to sell them. Once again, they resemble nothing the real Elvis ever wore. The styles may have changed since his time, but Elvis never looked cheap the way Youngblood does.

All of these cosmetic problems could have been overlooked had Elvis And The Colonel been a good story but, as mentioned before, it is filled with errors. And even beyond those errors, the script is poorly written and the entire movie is poorly made. [. . . .]

Beau Bridges, who was obviously chosen only to draw more viewers, stars as “Colonel Parker” and does a poor job also, but in a different way than Youngblood. Bridges makes the Colonel appear too likable and too nice, defeating the purpose of the movie.

Youngblood seems to have accidentally studied Gomer Pyle videos instead of Elvis ones for his part, for he plays Elvis as an extremely stupid fool – which could not be further from the truth.

Appropriately, even the house that is supposed to be Graceland looks nothing like the real thing.

The ELVIS television special, or the ’68 Comeback Special as it has come to be known, featured Elvis in top form. Of course, this movie slaughters this as well. One of the most ludicrous moments in the movie, and there are many, occurs when Youngblood is shown standing in front of a series of waist-high letters that spell “ELVIS” in red lights. The real version was over two stories tall and looked much better.

One of the many myths that Elvis And The Colonel perpetuates is everyone’s old favorite: “Elvis” appears overweight throughout the 1970s in this movie while the real Elvis did not begin to experience significant weight problems until about two years before his death. Youngblood is shown obese by 1971, while the real Elvis at the time was in shape and would remain so for a few more years. Of course, in such an inaccurate movie, such mistakes are not surprising.

Half of the “Elvis” songs used in the movie were apparently taken from Ronnie McDowell’s work for the 1979 television movie Elvis, starring Kurt Russell, and not surprisingly, Youngblood does a poor job lip-synching to them. The rest of the songs were performed by Youngblood himself and are awful. One particularly bad scene uses a combination of McDowell’s and Youngblood’s vocal tracks.

The most surprising thing about this movie is that Dick Clark was its executive producer. Clark also executive produced the Kurt Russell Elvis movie, directed by John Carpenter, which is one of the better movies based on Elvis’ life.

With this new movie, Clark has gone wrong. He has stated his respect for Elvis in the past and his disdain for the Colonel, but this movie serves only to slam Elvis instead of its intended target.

Incidentally, Elvis And The Colonel was directed by William A. Graham, who directed the real Elvis in Change Of Habit, which was one of Elvis’ better films.

It is apparent that no one connected with this movie bothered to do any significant research about its topic. It is also apparent that the movie’s production was rushed, probably to have it ready in time to cash in on the free publicity of the Elvis stamp release two days prior to this movie airing. They need not have bothered, for The Carol Burnett Show: A Reunion special beat it soundly in the ratings.

The worst part about Elvis And The Colonel: The Untold Story is that some people, who knew nothing about Elvis, probably watched this irresponsible movie and now think that this is what Elvis was really like.

Songs include:

  • “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy”
  • “Rip It Up”
  • “Tutti Frutti”
  • “Long Tall Sally”
  • “Heartbreak Hotel”
  • “Trouble”
  • “Blue Moon Of Kentucky”
  • “Are You Lonesome Tonight”
  • “The Wonder Of You”
  • “Dixie/The Battle Hymn Of The Republic”

Rating: 1 out of 10

Review: AS RECORDED AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN CD [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this review back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

As Recorded At Madison Square Garden (RCA), recorded by Elvis Presley, produced by Felton Jarvis. Recorded June 10, 1972, Madison Square Garden (New York). Released: June 1972. Re-released: 1992 (CD).

As Recorded At Madison Square Garden was Elvis’ first live album to consist of one complete concert, instead of songs excerpted from several different shows. This was also his first live album not recorded at the Las Vegas International Hotel. The result is a front row seat for the listener to hear Elvis in concert at Madison Square Garden.

From the rumblings of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) that opens the album to the announcement that Elvis has left the building that closes it, listeners are taken on a journey back to 1972 to witness Elvis at his near best.

He performs his standard hits (as usual a little different than previous versions) and a variety of new songs as well, the best of which is “The Impossible Dream.”

Songs:

  1. “Also Sprach Zarathustra”
  2. “That’s All Right”
  3. “Proud Mary”
  4. “Never Been To Spain”
  5. “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me”
  6. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
  7. “Polk Salad Annie”
  8. “Love Me”
  9. “All Shook Up”
  10. “Heartbreak Hotel”
  11. “Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel”
  12. “Love Me Tender”
  13. “The Impossible Dream”
  14. “Introductions By Elvis”
  15. “Hound Dog”
  16. “Suspicious Minds”
  17. “For The Good Times”
  18. “American Trilogy”
  19. “Funny How Time Slips Away”
  20. “I Can’t Stop Loving You”
  21. “Can’t Help Falling In Love”
  22. “End Theme”

Rating: 8.5 out of 10